Around 8.5L bogus voters names deleted after the last Assembly elections: Telangana CEO

Hyderabad: While 12.45 lakh new voters have been added in the state, around 8.5 lakh names of dubious and dead voters have been deleted after the Telangana Assembly elections over the last three months.

Thus, there has been a net addition of about four lakh voters. Around 7.69 lakh corrections have also been carried out in the electoral rolls, informed Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana Vikas Raj, while addressing the media in the city on Monday.

The CEO informed that prior to the Assembly elections, between 2022 and 2023, around 22 lakh names of bogus voters had already been deleted. "Weeding out fake voters is a continuous process and is ongoing.

The total number of registered voters in the state as on March 17, 2024 are 3,30,00,088, he said.

The CEO also informed that the last date for submission of Form 6 (for new voters' enrollment) is on April 15. New submission of Form 7 and 8 are no longer being accepted.

Furnishing other statistics, the CEO said, After the Assembly elections were held on November 30, 2023, total seizures worth Rs 243 crore were made for violation of the model code of conduct. Seizures from March 1, 2024, amounted to Rs 21.63 crore.

Speaking about the Lok Sabha constituencies, CEO Vikas Raj said that in terms of area, Hyderabad is the smallest constituency while Adilabad is the biggest. In terms of population or electors, Mahabubabad is the smallest and Malkajgiri is the biggest constituency.

Around 9,000 critical polling stations have been identified across the state as of now.

"There have been 5,000 polling stations with the lowest pollution percentage in the Assembly elections. We are focusing on them to improve the voters' turnout this time," added the CEO.

Model Code of Conduct (MCC)

Regarding implementation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the CEO informed that all guidelines are available for political parties and public.

There is a total ban on use of official or government vehicles for campaigning or any other purposes pertaining to the elections.

Regulations are also in place for use of political flags on two-wheelers and rallies.

Prior permission is needed for road shows. It should be undertaken only on holidays and not in peak hours and should not cover more than half the road.

There should be no display of animals and no participation from school children in uniform.

Between 10 PM and 6 AM, no loudspeakers should be used and the noise should not exceed the permissible decibel limits.

Further, political advertisements meant for electronic and social media should be pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMC).

Officials working on deputation would be responsible to the Election Commission and they would be pulled up for any violation or dereliction of duties.